Marking Their Identity
Author: Joellyn
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05 Oct 09
A Mark Left
I live in an urban environment with a bus stop near the front of my house. One morning, my neighbors and I were dismayed to awake to graffiti. Our bus stop had symbols painted on it, store front windows were etched, a residential fence defaced, and the light post marked.
“The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose.”
-Richard R. Grant
While I don’t think anyone in the neighborhood was surprised that it happened, we were grossly disappointed. We all work hard to maintain our beautiful space, but someone with a different connection to our space worked hard to mark it as their own. How hard they worked is debatable but they made their mark.
Leaving a Mark
Our identity is hugely important to our success, whether we’re a small business, an individual or a gang. We all create an identity, intentional or not. Some of us leave a mark and some of us don’t. I learned something from the “un-identified� (in my world) gang. They have an identity that means something to their audience, probably their enemies. It means something to me too – there is never an appropriate time to push an identity on someone, or a community, if they don’t want it.
Likewise, how your identity is imposed upon and received in today’s social media communities is a critical component of any brand design and marketing strategy.
Consider yours carefully, seek good counsel and identify yourself properly.
Image: Robyn Gallagher
